Grahame Lesh talks celebrating the Grateful Dead & more with The Heart of Town shows

Grahame Lesh is hosting a three-night concert series, The Heart of Town, to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead.

Lesh’s shows, taking place July 31-Aug. 2 at San Francisco’s Pier 48, coincide with Dead & Company’s three-night stand at Golden Gate Park Aug. 1-3. Lesh tells ABC Audio the weekend is about celebrating more than just the band’s music.

“The Grateful Dead is so all-encompassing,” Lesh, son of the late Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, says. “I think every aspect of the weekend is going to celebrate some aspect of the band.”

He adds, “It’s just become this whole Bay Area wide celebration of the band, of the music, of the community and, you know, of the area honestly, of the city itself.”

Artists on board to celebrate The Dead’s legacy include Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes, John Medeski and Duane Betts, with Lesh noting it wasn’t hard to find artists who’ve been influenced by The Dead.

“That sort of like just opens up this whole world of people who love to play this music or love to play adjacent music or any sort of thing like that,” he says.

Lesh says his main goal with The Heart of Town is to put on a great show, but he hopes fans leave grasping the “breadth and the depth” of the Grateful Dead’s music and its community.

And when it comes to the set, fans may be in for some surprises.

“I’m planning to play some Dead songs that I’m sure Dead & Co. is not going to do,” Lesh says. “There’s so much … they couldn’t get it all in to three nights either.” 

The Heart of the Town is presented by San Francisco Giants and Relix, and produced by Terrapin Station Entertainment and Dayglo Presents. More info can be found at mlb.com.

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